Wireless communications networks have found great utility in many commercial and military applications. However, some types of wireless networks become less efficient in transmitting information when a large number of nodes are attempting to communicate thereon.
Previous efforts to increase the efficiency of a wireless network have included the following, all of which are assigned to the same entity as the present application and which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety:
U.S. Pat. No. 5,949,760, entitled “Simultaneous Channel Access Transmission Method and a Multi-Hop Communications Radio Network”;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,719,868, titled “Dynamic Distributed, Multi-Channel Time Division Multiple Access Slot Assignment Method for a Network of Nodes”;
U.S. Pat. No. 6,487,186, titled “A Method and Apparatus for Managing Communication Resources Using Bootstrap Slots”;
U.S. Pat. No. 6,504,829, titled “A Method and Apparatus for Managing Communication Resources Using Channelized Neighborhoods”;
U.S. Pat. No. 6,628,636, titled “A Method and Apparatus for Managing Communication Resources Using Neighbor Segregation”;
U.S. Pat. No. 6,317,436, titled “A Method and Apparatus for Managing Communication Resources Using an Adaptive Broadcast Cycle (ABC)”;
U.S. Pat. No. 6,331,973, titled “Unifying Slot Assignment Protocol Multiple Access System”;
U.S. Pat. No. 6,574,206, titled “A Method and Apparatus for Managing Communication Resources Using Speculation Slots”;
U.S. Pat. No. 6,600,754, titled “A Method and Apparatus for Managing Communication Resources Using Standby Slots”;
U.S. Pat. No. 6,574,199, titled “Unifying Slot Assignment Protocol Logical Neighborhooding”; and
U.S. application Ser. No. 10/689,448, filed Oct. 20, 2003, titled “Heuristics for Combining Inter-Channel and Intra-Channel Communications in a Wireless Communications Environment”.
One challenge faced in communications networks is the scheduling of communications slots for each node in the network. In networks with small numbers of nodes it may be efficient to permanently assign a recurring communication slot to each node according to a predetermined schedule. Where large numbers of nodes are involved, however, the permanent pre-assignment of slots may create an unacceptably long communication cycle as each node waits its turn to communicate according to the predetermined schedule. The addition of multiple frequencies or channels may reduce delays by creating more communication slots, but fielded transceivers may not be equipped to communicate on the number of channels required for a large-scale, multi channel, low delay network. One possible solution is to use known Minimum Connected Dominating Set (MCDS) algorithms, but known MCDS solutions have not been used for scheduling communication slots in a network.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a communications network that efficiently manages a large number of nodes.
It is another object of the invention to provide a communications network that efficiently schedules communication slots for a plurality of nodes.
A feature of the invention is the formation of an interconnected, arterial sub-network within a communications network, where the nodes in the arterial sub-network assign communication slots to neighboring nodes.
An advantage of the invention is an increase in stability and accessibility to communication slots by nodes in a communications network.